Tesla Recalls Another 1.85M Cars, This Time for Surprise Hood Openings

Tesla is no stranger to recalls, but the electric vehicle maker’s latest—covering 1.85 million cars with a software defect that makes them unable to detect if a hood is latched or not—is among the most widespread to hit the company yet.

The recall concerns every Tesla model aside from the Cybertruck dating back to 2021; additionally, Model Y vehicles from the 2020 model year are also impacted. (On the bright side, it’s about time the Cybertruck had a win!) Tesla has been in the process of rolling out a software update to correct the issue since June. The company was tipped off to a potential issue by its Chinese customers in March, which sparked a deeper investigation.

Since then, Tesla has reported three instances of similar problems from owners in the U.S., per Reuters, though no crashes or injuries have resulted from them. Of course, a hood that is unlatched without the driver’s knowledge could fly open while driving, obstructing the view and potentially smashing the windshield.

Although it’s all being carried out via over-the-air updates, this still amounts to Tesla’s second-biggest recall to date, after the automaker recalled nearly every one of its 2 million vehicles in the U.S. in December to improve driver monitoring software that governs Autopilot. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration nevertheless probed Tesla’s campaign in April, after it received reports of more than 20 crashes that may have been related to Autopilot use, even though the vehicles involved had the patched software installed. The update also reportedly disabled Autopliot entirely for some owners.

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